A fib after hip replacement.

your dr appt bring a list of questions.

The answer to your question depends on what your aims are, initially, in the immediate future, and then beyond, say out of 5 years or more.

Your hip recovery is of paramount importance, despite the annoyance and disappointment of recurring AF. If the AF is still paroxysmal, and converts to NSR again in a few hours at most, you're good for now. Symptoms may make a difference, though...they certainly do for some of us who get very anxious due to how AF feels to us. But, if you can sleep well, and are otherwise in NSR most of the time, you are good for a while before you might wish to address the AF again.

BUTTTTTTT.....! If you are having any AF at all, even for a few minutes, you should be on a DOAC (Direct Oral Anti-Coagulant) such as rivaroxaban or apixaban. The risk is for stroke. So, make sure your care providers in the medical community know what's going on, and if you're not on a DOAC ask them why not?!?

An EP will almost certainly want you well past your hip replacement and the stresses that that experience imposed on you. They'll ideally hope to see you in a couple of months at least, when you're fully rehabilitated and can get around easily and stress-free. At that point, if your heart is still in AF some of the time, you'll get assessed and put in line for another ablation...if you want one....if the EP agrees that she/he can take another stab at your heart....so to speak. 😀

BTW, a successful ablation is one where you are free from any treated arrhythmia for one full year. If you go into AF again on the 366th day, you are not an ablation failure, you have just encountered recurring AF. This happens to a great many of us, probably a heavy majority of us. The electrically disordered heart has begun to grow incidental electrical node cells here and there in places other than the SA node and the AV node, and they'll begin to put out electrical signals on their own in time. If they happen to be outside of an ablated 'dam', or stockade, your atrium might (if the re-entrant is located near the left atrium) cause the atrium to contract again, out of synch with the SA node's signal. So, the unhappy truth is that, while ablations succeed in keeping most of us free from arrhythmia for years even, many of us will need further attention, possibly even another ablation, in time. AF is a progressive disorder after all.

Thanx. Never knew about recurring AF. My cardio did say I might need a “tune up” in a year or so. Just worried that my hip surgery recovery will be impacted

Your history makes me more convinced that when I see my cardiologist again, the most important thing I need to know from him is "Plan B." I have had one long episode of A-fib--several days before diagnosis and 4 weeks of blood thinner before cardioversion. Cardioversion worked with one shock, but from all I have read and heard, it isn't going to last forever. I have no intention of living with this as "tolerable" since it isn't for me. I want to know what I do if/when it comes back and I will be looking for the best electrophysiologist I can find. Everyone says that makes a difference too. Good luck. I feel your annoyance because I believe this is not something you can just "learn to live with."

When your EP said you might you might need a "tune up" in a year or so he was referring that you might need a 2nd ablation. Due to the high heat used in RFA ablations they ofter cannot remove or change all the affected regions in the heart hence they could damage the heart or the esophagus resulting complications that are significant. That is why ablations often really are 2 stage events. It's not that the heart is changing so much. It's that essentially EPs cannot complete a comprehensive job on the first go around. With your history of Afib often the orthopedist will put you on a blood thinner after a hip or knee replacement. It someone hasn't already prescibed a blood thinner I'd be asking for it right away as you odds of clotting increase just with the replacement alone and then adding Afib makes raises the odds.
The good news is it sounds like you had a good hip replacement and are well on the way to a fast and durable orthopedic recovery.
See your EP now as it will take time to get worked into the system as most of them are always months behind and by then you will be fully healed with your new hip.

Just a follow up. Went to ER for cardio version. One zap did it! Was told that it was Aflutter, not Afib. Follow up w cardio mext week. Hip doing great. Walked a mile yesterday!
PS anyone ever had ketamine for anesthesia? Wild and wacky stuff!

Good walk! May I ask how long since your hip surgery? I’m having mine replaced in 3 weeks, and I’m looking forward to being able to walk miles again!

My dad was about 87 when he had his first hip replacement. The private clinic in Quebec had him up the next day shuffling for just a few minutes. Two days later, they discharged him, and by then he was walking, with a walker, up and down the halfway. Also, some minor physio by then.

He was sent home with instructions, including to enlist the help of a physical therapist. I think he may have gone to her (we know her) two or three times, and he figured out he knew what to do and could rehabilitate himself. He did, and was walking for a km within three weeks. Note that it took a LOT of self-discipline, willingness to endure a lot of discomfort and anxiety, and it required perseverance. But if a patient is highly motivated, likes to be in charge, and wants to get back to a near-normal self, it can be done in just a few weeks at most.